Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

People
on the Move

N° 108 (Suppl.), December 2008

VATICAN RADIO INTERVIEWS

ARCHBISHOP AGOSTINO MARCHETTO

On the 26th and 27th of this
coming November, the First International Meeting on the Pastoral Care of
the Homeless on the theme: “In Christ and with the Church at the
service of the homeless (clochards)” will be held in the offices of
the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant
People. Some 50 persons will be attending, representing 28 countries and
4 continents.

1. What is the purpose of this meeting and who
is involved in this area of pastoral care?

This meeting comes as the third in a trilogy of
International meetings concerning the different areas of pastoral care
undertaken by the sector of this Council that oversees the Apostleship
of the Road (Street). The first one took place
in Rome in October 2004 followed by another for the Liberation of the
Women of the Street, in June 2005. As with the
other meetings, we will again bring together many different pastoral
agents concerned with this particular field of pastoral care, in its
many diverse aspects and realities. The presence of nearly fifty
attendees, coming from 28 different countries implies that we are
tackling together a global phenomenon, even though it manifests itself
in multitudinous ways.

It is hoped that our work and deliberations over
these days will:

Enable the different pastoral agents to have
the opportunity to share together their different experiences,
methodologies, successes and difficulties.

Explore the different global and local
realities that make up the phenomenon of homelessness.

Discover new ways of promoting the dignity of
the human person, whilst living on the road and the street.

Find new ways of ecclesial collaboration with
other sectors of the State and voluntary agents in this area of
pastoral care.

Strengthen an Ecclesial awareness of the
presence of the homeless in our midst and to encourage local
communities to become places of welcome for the homeless.

Widen the vision of our Pontifical Council in
its understanding of the pastoral care of the homeless and the
support and encouragement that it may be able to offer in the future
to those engaged in this apostolate, especially through the
Episcopal Conferences and their National Commissions for the
pastoral care of human mobility.

2. What is the present situation of these
persons (the homeless)?

A definition of the homeless that we can accept is
thus: “A person in both material and personal poverty, in a situation
of complex, varied and changing hardship”, which is clearly revealed
by the homeless.

It is important to remember that as a global
phenomenon, it is difficult to speak of homelessness in any simple and
pre-defined way as it manifests itself in a multiplicity of modes. It is
easy to stereotype a homeless person using words such as barbone,
clochard, hobo, tramp and so forth, but in reality homelessness
presents itself in a variety of different and complex ways, usually
related to a variety and varied set of causes that bring an individual
to be living on the street. For some it is a short term reality, though
for others it represents a sustained, and even sometimes chosen way of
living. Often it is the poorest, those who are most marginalised, least
educated and most vulnerable are the ones who are at the greatest risk
of homelessness. Low literacy and innumeracy skills, drug or alcohol
addiction, chronic health problems, mental illness and eccentricity are
quite common. Another component are the young enduring a ‘rough’
existence in order to establish a new life. Many others are caught in
the trap of long-term poverty, eroding self esteem, affecting
expectations and motivation. Whilst homeless people are clearly not a
homogenous group, they have their own distinguishing ‘values’, behaviour
and expectations. There are amongst some an unwillingness or inability
to behave conventionally, a common and obvious defence against
marginalisation and rejection. Many of these expressions of homelessness
only serve to push those on the streets further to the margins of
society.

3. What is the Church doing for them?

The Church has tried to see the presence of
Christ, especially the most poor and marginalized, and as such has tried
throughout her history to respond also to the needs of the homeless.
Throughout his ministry Jesus meets those who are on the road and on the
street. So today, the Church continues to meet those on the road and
street and to respond to this grave need: to shelter, feed and clothe
those who are without.

Our meeting here represents many facets of the
Church’s response. Priests, religious and lay; religious congregations
and orders, institutes of apostolic work, those who work in the
voluntary sector. It should not be forgotten the collaboration and
participation that many Christians have with organizations of the State
that are committed to pastoral care and help of the homeless.

The Church responds not just by meeting basic
needs but by seeing Christ in each and every person, thus promoting and
recognizing their human dignity, helping them, with due respect to
discover the richness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the
Sacraments of salvation. She sees that in every person who is living on
the street that they are not just without a roof, but they are also
without a home, and the deprivations that follow in the wake of such a
loss. This means accompanying a person, if possible, on a journey, not
only in the restoration of basic needs but also in participation to a
full dignified part in the human and, when possible, ecclesial family.